2008 Michigan QSO Party Multi-Operator Stations Back to 2008 MiQP Main Page

Michigan Single Transmitter

 

N9FN QTH

At the top of this year's Michigan Multi-Operator, Single-Transmitter competition we find a familiar callsign in an unfamiliar category.  After several years of battle in the multi-transmitter arena, the N9FN multi-operator team shifted gears to single-transmitter for 2008 and promptly took home a plaque.  The operation by Dave Chasey, N9FN and Dave Bunte, K9FN not only won the category but provided the first-ever recorded MiQP fixed-station operation from Cass County.  The two Daves put together a solid score which is largely 80M (254 our of 381 QSOs) and largely CW (67%) but with enough phone QSOs to have a competitive multiplier total.  Their best hour came late in the contest, with 43 QSOs in 02Z hour.  They operated the entire contest and were able to work 55 different counties.

In second place, we have the team at W8SH which is the club station at Michigan State University in Ingham County.  This team made the most QSOs of all the multi-single entries, but all these QSOs were on phone.  With a little CW, they could have challenged N9FN for the category win.  Still, this team did a lot of things right.  With the exception of the 22Z hour, they made QSOs in eleven hours of the contest, with good QSO totals on 75M and 40M phone.  Their best hour as 66 QSOs in the 01Z hour and they worked 47 different counties.

In third place multi-single, we have the husband and wife team of Jeff, K8KZB and Amy, WA8MY operating as W8ACW from Lapeer county.  In their second try at MiQP, this team had a solid increase over their 2007 score and as a result moved up from 4th to 3rd in the rankings.  Their QSO breakdowns show a preference for phone (92%) and 40M (55%).  While they had a good phone multiplier total they came up a bit short on CW.   Their best hour of the contest was the second, with 50 QSOs, and they were able to work 34 different counties during their 10½ hours on the air.

The graph above shows the progress made by each of the top three multi-single entries as the contest ran on.  While this is an interesting graph, it doesn't really tell the entire story.  We see W8SH jump out to the early lead with W8ACW close on their heels while eventual winner N9FN trails, but 'FN is grinding out CW QSOs at a slower rate for double points and is garnering valuable CW multipliers.  W8SH is QRT during the 22Z hour, which allows W8ACW to pull ahead from 22Z-00Z.  W8SH get's rolling again during the 01Z hour and pulls ahead, while N9FN keeps the rate up with a mix of CW and phone QSOs, perhaps working some of the participants previously worked by the other two stations.

Michigan Multi Transmitter

This year's battle for the top spot in the in-state Multi-Multi category involves the same three teams as last year.  In some cases the callsigns or operating locations were different, as was the order of finish.  close (4.3%), the competition this year will blow your mind.  These teams put a lot of effort into their big scores, and it is interesting to note that roughly one in every seven MiQP QSOs in 2008 were logged by one of these three stations.

The winner of this year's multi-multi category was the 2005 winner K8XXX, again operating from the N8CC QTH in Barry county.  Their score of 692,464 sets a new category records, and sets a new mark for the highest score ever in MiQP.  The K8XXX log is biased towards phone (65%) and their best band was 40M, with 855 QSOs (up from 689 last year), followed by 80M then 20M.  In contrast to 2007, they made no QSOs on 10M or 15M.  They also had the highest overall multiplier of the contest.  Their best hour for rate was 01Z, with 259 QSOs getting into the log while their lowest was still a very fine 147 in the 18Z hour.  They worked the largest number of different counties of anyone in the contest, matching their total of 68 from 2007. 

In second place was the 2007 winner K8MQP.  When their usual operating location in Cheboygan County became unavailable for 2008, they set up at the K8CC contest station in Washtenaw County. The team had to battle severe inter-station interference problems on 40M, and some computer glitches which were never solved. The K8MQP log was biased towards SSB (70%), and they managed even more QSOs on 40M than K8XXX (881) but lost out on 80M (527 to 728) and 20M (635 to 682).  'MQP beat 'XXX on phone mults, but 'XXX beat them on CW mults to finish ahead by four.  The K8MQP best hour was, like last year, the first hour with 192 QSOs between the four stations, down slightly from last year due to setup problems.  They worked 65 different counties, up from 62 last year.

The third place multi-multi team is the group who activated K8C last year - but this year, they were signing the EMARC club callsign of K8EPV from St Clair county  Their 354K score is a healthy increase from their 291K total from 2007.  As in 2007, this team showed the ability to strike an amazing balance between their band QSO totals: 470/430/410 for 80 thru 20 respectively.  Their QSO mode balance was typical of the other multi-multis (66% SSB).  They worked 64 different counties (up from 59 last year), and their best hour was the 20Z hour when 165 QSOs went into their log.

The graph above shows the progress made by each of the top three multi-multi entries as the contest ran on.  While this is an interesting graph, it doesn't really tell the entire story.  K8XXX and K8MQP wage a terrific battle for the first eight hours of the contest - at the end of the 22Z hour,  the two stations are one QSO apart, but then K8XXX starts to pull away.  The K8EPV team keeps up a good rate for the entire contest, but with fewer rigs on the air, simply can't keep up with the XXX/MQP juggernauts.

Non-Michigan Multi Operator

Multi Transmitter

Single Transmitter

While the field in the non-Michigan multi-op category shrunk slightly from 2007, there was variety amongst the entries: multi vs. single transmitters, true multi-ops vs. solo ops utilizing packet spotting, etc. The MiQP rules allow this variety, because like most QSO parties, the multi-op category is typically not very popular outside of the target state and differentiation within the category has seldom been necessary.

This year we saw W8AV from Ohio field an uncommon non-Michigan MiQP multi-multi entry.  The team of Goose Steingass, W8AV and Gary Mikitin, AF8A, usually are usually one of the top mobile entries in MiQP, but high fuel prices caused them to re-think that idea and instead stay home and put Goose's multi-multi contest station through it's paces in MiQP.  Their Wooster, OH QTH was a bit too close to Michigan to work much of the state on 40M or 20M so 80M was their biggest band with 111 QSOs.  Their log was 62% CW, but they got in enough phone operating to grab a decent number of phone mults. It was a tough slog rate-wise, as their best hour was 24 in the 22Z hour and their worst was 11 in the final hour.  They got in a little under eleven hours of operating time, and managed to put 65 different counties into their log.

The single transmitter entries were lead by KA9FOX from Wisconsin, operated by Scott and Mike, K9NW.  This team grabbed a large share of their QSOs (49 out of 165) in the first hour of the contest, but they managed to get in another 3½ hours to put together the top single-transmitter score.  All of their QSOs were on 80M or 40M, and their log is incredibly balanced: close to 50/50 80M/40M, and phone-to CW for both QSOs and mults, while putting 51 different counties into their log.  Close on KA9FOX's heels was Bud, AA3B, operating single-op with packet from Pennsylvania.  Bud's log was mostly CW, his best band was 40M and he managed to work 50 different Michigan counties in four hours operating time.  Third place went to another single-operator with packet; Jerry, KE9I, from Indiana.  Jerry's log was mostly phone, his best band was 75M and he managed to work 51 different counties in his 4:15 operating time.

The graph above shows the progress made by each of the top three non-Michigan multi-op entries as the contest ran on.  While this is an interesting graph, it doesn't really tell the entire story.  KA9FOX started big, but lost the lead in the 19Z hour only to grab it back two hours later.  AA3B and KE9I traded off second place throughout the contest, but Bud won it back in the 01Z hour and held on to the position as both stations were QRT for the final two hours of the contest.

Back to 2008 MiQP Main Page